The present disclosure is related to the field of anesthetic vaporizers. More specifically, the present disclosure is related to a vaporizer filler lock used to assist in filling an anesthetic vaporizer with liquid anesthetic agent.
Anesthetic vaporizers convert liquid anesthetic agent into a gaseous form for delivery to a patient. The liquid anesthetic agent is provided to the vaporizer in relatively small quantities and stored within a sump until it is needed for delivery to a patient.
If an anesthetic agent is inhaled by a person other than the intended patient, it can produce toxic or intoxicating effects on unsuspecting personnel. Therefore, great caution is taken in order to prevent the leakage of anesthetic agent into the ambient air surrounding the anesthetic vaporizer. Additionally, anesthetic agents can be very costly substances and therefore economically minded care providers do not want to waste any of these agents during the process of filling the anesthetic vaporizer.
Therefore, a series of valves must be operated in order to open the sump of the anesthetic vaporizer to fluid communication with a source of anesthetic agent. These valves are further biased in the closed position such that they must be actively operated in order to maintain the open fluid communication.